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Formerly named Greater Buffalo, Sable was originally built in 1924 by the American Ship Building Company of Lorain, Ohio as a sidewheelexcursion steamer designed by marine architect Frank E. Kirby. When completed, Greater Buffalo was 518.7 ft (158.1 m) in length, a beam of 58 ft (18 m), height of 21.3 ft (6.5 m) and had a 7,739 long tons (7,863 t). She was powered by a three-cylinder inclined compound steam engine.[1] She was six passenger decks high and carried three funnels along her top.

Sable was converted at the Erie Plant of American Shipbuilding Company[5]at Buffalo, New York.[4] The cabins and superstructure of the ship were removed leaving the main deck. Along with additional supports, a steel flight deck was installed instead of the originally planned Douglas-fir wooden deck similar to what was installed on USS Wolverine (IX-64).[3]Sable lacked a hangar deck, elevators or armament, as her role was for the training of pilots for carrier take-offs and landings.[6]Sable was commissioned on 8 May 1943, Captain Warren K. Berner in command.

The completed Sable departed Buffalo on 22 May 1943 and arrived at her assigned homeport of Chicago, Illinois on 26 May 1943.[4]Sable along with her sister ship, Wolverine, were assigned to the 9th Naval District Carrier Qualification Training Unit (CQTU) and qualified pilots for carrier operations. Sable '​s steel deck was used for testing non-skid material on the flight deck as well as her normal duties.[3] Following the end of World War II, Sable was decommissioned on 7 November 1945 and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 28 November 1945.[4] She was sold by the Maritime Commission to H. H. Buncher Company on 7 July 1948 and was reported as "disposed of" on 27 July 1948.[4]

Together, Sable and Wolverine trained 17,820 pilots in 116,000 carrier landings. Of these, 51,000 landings were on Sable alone. One of the pilots qualified on Sable was a 20-year-old Lieutenant, junior grade, future president George H. W. Bush.[3] Of the estimated 135–300 aircraft lost during training, 35 have been salvaged and the search for more is underway.[7][8]